10.12.2012

angry reader of the week: jenny yang

Hey everybody! It's time again to meet the Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is Jenny Yang.

What are you?
I am a writer, comedian, comedy, social justice and art lover, and recovering overachiever. Without irony and in my off-hours, I diligently train myself with a strict regimen of slacker best practices.

Where are you?
Sitting at the brown desk of my new day job working on an NBC sitcom, staring at my computer screen with taped up mini-photocopied portraits of Mindy Kaling and Mara Brock Ali looking back at me telling me, "Keep creating you wonderful and outrageous funny lady o' color!" In comedy space most of the people usually look like this:

Where are you from?
I'm from Taipei, Taiwan and Torrance, CA (South Bay) by way of Rosemead, CA (SGV!), Hawthorne, CA and Philadelphia, PA (Swarthmore College!). This is what happened:

What do you do?
I write, perform and produce comedy on stage under bright lights in front of mostly strangers. Sometimes this involves screaming Mandarin Chinese at white people until they get really uncomfortable. Usually it involves rap music because hip hop is dead and I killed it. It makes me, and sometimes others, quite happy.

Sometimes this writing and performing happens in the following forms:
* Sold-out shows on the Dis/orient/ed Comedy standup comedy tour: All Asian. All Female. All Funny.
* The 3AM Podcast with Jenny and Edren, a new semi-drunken talk show that goes from the passionate and philosophical to the personal and current. (After our premiere episode I promise to stop yell-talking and interrupting Edren in my drunken obnoxiousness).
* Epic guest blog posts on angryasianman.com.

What are you all about?
I'm all about:
* Pork product. Tropical fruits. Fresh vegetables.
* Cultivating more joy in my life and others.
* Bridging the gap between two groups: Those who CARE and Those who DON'T.
* Bringing more truth and silliness to the world through my art.
* Creating a platform for women of color, and Asian American writers and performers.
* Building community through sharing stories about people who are not typically visible in mainstream media.
* Making, talking about, photographing, sharing and eating delicious food.

What makes you angry?
* People who think "umami" is a flavor that only Asians can taste.
* Women and Asian Americans who do not allow themselves to pursue their creative dreams.
* People with privilege who know it, don't know it or forget it, and abuse it (including myself)
* Misogynists. Racism. 'ism...'ism...'ism.
* The way the world tries to lessen, belittle, delegitimize the voices of working people, women, women of color and communities of color.
* Body policing.
* Not feeling comfortable or safe riding around the city on my bicycle.